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Friday, September 9, 2016

I'm happy to have one of my favorite authors, Monica Fairview on my blog today. Read ahead for a tantalizing excerpt from her new novel, Mr. Darcy's Pride and Joy and leave a comment for an opportunity to win an e-book of one of her Darcy novels.

Monica Fairview, Mr. Darcy’s Pride and Joy

I’m delighted to be once again visiting Laura’s Reviews. I
have such a strong admiration for bloggers like Laura who have managed to
sustain their blogs over a long period of time. It’s unbelievable that the blog
has been going since 2007! In fact, that was before I’d even written my first
novel.

This time, the occasion for my visit is the blog tour for
the release of Mr. Darcy’s Pride and Joy.

This excerpt is from Chapter Nine. I hope you enjoy it!

***

When Elizabeth returned from her long walk, her clothes were
soaked through, and her petticoats encased in mud. The rain had poured down in
buckets and the wind had whipped her hair into a frenzy, but the stormy weather
reflected her spirits and she felt invigorated by it, even if it had not
changed her mood. She ran upstairs quickly, knowing her mother would chastise
her for getting wet. She changed quickly into a day dress and came slowly down
the stairs, rubbing her hair dry with a towel.

“You will never guess who was here,” said Kitty, as
Elizabeth came into the parlor, bursting to tell the news.

Elizabeth continued to rub her hair indifferently.

Kitty, realizing she had not succeeding in arousing her
sister’s curiosity, blurted out the information. “It was Mr. Darcy! Aren’t you
surprised, Lizzy?”

“Mr. Darcy was here?” said Elizabeth, dropping the towel,
hope arising inside her like sunshine after a storm.

“Yes,” said Kitty, very pleased at her sister’s reaction,
“and he stalked off in his usual arrogant way, stiff as a poker.” She rose and
marched around the room in imitation. Mrs. Bennet, who was just entering the
room, laughed, and Mary sniffed.

“How long ago was that?” said Elizabeth.

“What does it matter?” said Mrs. Bennet. “I care nothing for
him. I cannot imagine why he keeps showing up like a bad penny.”

“For heaven’s sake, mama, tell me, is he long gone?”

“What concern is it of yours? What do you have anything to
do with Mr. Darcy? If you must know, he left about an hour ago, which you would
have known if you were not off somewhere, wandering the Lord knows where.”

“Is he staying in Meryton?” said Elizabeth, ignoring her
mother’s comments.

“I cannot say.”

Elizabeth knew she would learn nothing more from her mother,
who had taken such a dislike to Mr. Darcy that not even his assistance in
Brighton had changed her mind. Only her father could give her more information.
Her heart was beating with anxiety. If Mr. Darcy had come all the way to
Longbourn to speak to her father and not stayed to see her, it did not bode
well. Something bad had happened. Elizabeth did not delay. She marched quickly
to the library and knocked at the door, entering before her father had a chance
to answer.

“Did you turn Mr. Darcy down?” she said, without preamble.

Her father took off his spectacles with deliberation and
peered at her over his book.

“If you are asking if Mr. Darcy asked for your hand, then
the answer is yes.”

“I am asking if you refused him.”

“I did.”

It was as she had feared. She closed her eyes and tried not
to imagine the look on Darcy’s face when it had happened. It was hard not to
see it, having already witnessed his dejection on two occasions. Her heart went
out to him.

“Oh, how could you?” she said, her eyes full of pained
accusation. “I never thought you could possibly be serious. Why are you so
against this match, papa? Do you not see that you are destroying my happiness?”

Her father looked away.

“Is Mr. Darcy staying at the inn in Meryton or at
Netherfield?”

Mr. Bennet sighed. “At the inn, child. I suppose there is no
point in asking you not to make a spectacle of yourself—?”

***

Mr. Darcy's Pride and Joy BLURB

A Jane Austen “what-if” novel.

Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet are engaged at
last, and Mr. Darcy is preparing to take out a special license to get married
quickly. But, just when everything seems to be going just right, he encounters
opposition from an unexpected quarter. Then, when his engagement is announced –
to someone else – Elizabeth, understandably, begins to doubt his sincerity.

Perhaps their love is doomed after all…

Find out more in this third part of the Darcy Novels series.

Author Bio

Monica Fairview is a long-time admirer of Jane
Austen's wit. She loves to laugh, and she is convinced that her cats can
understand everything she says. She is the author of several Austenesque
novels: two traditional Jane Austen sequels, one post-apocalyptic
tongue-in-cheek Jane Austen spin-off, one multi-author novel THE DARCY BROTHERS,
featuring Mr. Darcy’s rakish brother Theo, and now the trilogy, THE DARCY
NOVELS. She has also written a Regency Christmas novel, A VERY MERRY CHASE,
which was published as part of The Regency Quintet anthology and will be coming
out soon on Amazon.

Monica Fairview’s real claim to fame is that she
lived in Elizabeth Gaskell’s house in Manchester as a teenager, in the days
when it was faded and neglected, so you could say she has the smog of NORTH
& SOUTH in her blood.

Monica lived in the USA for many years, where
she taught literature to captive victims. She has lived in Illinois, Texas,
Colorado, California, Washington State, Oregon, and Massachusetts. By some
quirk of fate, she now lives in Surrey within the Greater London area, within a
stone's throw of Jane Austen's picnic spot in EMMA, Box Hill. She loves
visiting historical properties when it isn’t raining.

One lucky winner will receive an e-book copy of any of the three Darcy novels Novels by Monica Fairview: Mr. Darcy's Pledge, Mr. Darcy's Challenge, orMr. Darcy's Pride and Joy.If you would like to win any of these three great novels, please leave a comment on which one you would like to read, and what interests you about Mr. Darcy's Pride and Joy.

As part of your comment, you must include an email address. If I can't find a way to contact you I will draw another winner.

For an additional entry, blog about this giveaway or post it on your sidebar. Provide a link to this post in your comment.

I will be using random.org (or a Monte Carlo simulation in excel) to pick the winners from the comments.

This contest is only open to addresses in the United States

The deadline for entry is midnight on Friday September 23rd!

Please
make sure to check the week of September 26th to see if you are a winner. I
send emails to the winner, but lately I've been put in their "junk mail"
folder instead of their inbox.

2 comments:

Laura, thanks for hosting this wonderful giveaway! I enjoyed reading the brief description of this novel, and the excerpt from Chapter Nine. If I win, I would like to win this book, because I am interested in this "what if" story now.

I will add your giveaway to my blog's sidebar, to share with other P & P fans.